Baker McKenzie expands London banking & finance and IT practices with three new partners

Michal Bednarek

Baker McKenzie has expanded its London banking and technology practices with the appointment of three new partners joining the firm in September from Freshfields, Travers Smith and Morrison & Foerster.

Finance Partner Geoff O'Dea joins from Freshfields; Finance Senior Associate Matthew Smith from Travers Smith and Technology Of-Counsel Sue McLean from Morrison & Foerster. Former Freshfields Banking Partner Geoff O'Dea has almost 20 years of financing experience and specialises in restructuring and insolvency and acquisition finance regularly advising sponsors, special situation funds, creditors and debtors and insolvency practitioners. Matthew Smith joins the firm as a Partner and specialises in acquisition and leveraged finance, corporate lending, debt restructurings and general financing matters across a range of sectors.

Boost acquisition and leveraged finance

Baker McKenzie's London Head of Banking & Finance Nick Tostivin said: ‘Geoff is a highly regarded banking lawyer whose excellent experience and reputation in the market makes him an ideal addition to our team. He will work closely with our restructuring experts to build out our capabilities even further. Both Geoff and Matt will also play key roles in boosting our acquisition and leveraged finance practices and I'm looking forward to working with both of them as we continue to grow the team.’

IT expansion

Sue McLean, who will be joining the Information Technology & Communications Practice as a Partner from Morrison & Foerster. She advises on a wide range of commercial and technology matters, including outsourcing, complex technology infrastructure and digital transformation projects and has particular experience advising on FinTech.

Latest strategic hires

The appointments follow a number of recent strategic high-profile hires comprising: Steve Labrum who joined the Tax practice from KPMG; Will Holder and Carl Richards who joined the M&A/Private Equity and Employment practices from King & Wood Mallesons; David Duncan and Melanie Howard who joined as M&A partners from Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance respectively; and Alex Lewis who joined the Private Equity practice from Ropes & Gray.